On April
9, members of the 3rd Battalion 4th Marines rolled into Baghdad's Firdos
Square, where a small crowd of Iraqis was attempting to topple the statue of President Saddam Hussein with a sledgehammer and rope. The Marines soon stepped in to help. The toppling of the towering statue of Saddam was one of the Iraq war's early iconic moments. McLaughlin was
not only present -- it was his own American flag that was, for an awkward but unforgettable minute and a half, draped over
the statue's face.
Gary Knight/VII
